Floor and process of laying floor



, April 7, 1925 I 1,533,074

A. C. DENNING FLOOR AND PROCESS OF LAYING FLOOR Filed Oct. 1920 INVEHTOR S) egg ATTOgNEYS i I Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE.

ANSEL G. DENNING, OF JOHNSON CITY, NEW YORK; WORKERS TRUST COMPANY, AD-

MINISTRATOR OF ESTATE OF ANSEL C. DENNING, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR 'TO ENDI- COTTJ'OENSON CORPORATION, OF ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FLOOR AND PROCESS OF LAYING FLOOR.

Application filed October 4, 1920. Serial No. 414,461.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANsEL C. DENNING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Johnson Cit New York, have invented cer- 6 tain new an useful Improvements in Floors and Processes of Laying Floors, of which the following isa clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to floors and a gen- 10 eral object of the invention is an improvement in respect both to floor construction, to the materlals employed in floor construction, and to the process of assembling and laying floors.

The particular object'of the invention is a floor construction which will permit the use of compositions of vegetable or animal fibre m such manner asto obtain' the greatest benefit of the peculiar characteristics of such compositions with respect to durability, elasticity, sound-deadening qualities, etc.

An important feature of the invention is the construction of a fibre floorv so that the fibres are substantially on end. Other important features of the invention are the novel means and the novel process by which the improved floor is laid under substantially uniform lateralpressure. 1 p I Further objects and important features of so the invention will appear from the following description and claims when considered 1 in connection with the accompanying drawin s, in which ig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of block or section which may be employed in constructing the novel floor of the present invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a detailvi'ew showing the mode of assembling the fibre sections to form a -40 block such as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates a section of floor constructed of blocks of the type shown in Fig.

1, this figure showing particularly the manner of laying the floor with broken joints;

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail showing the manner of attachi invention'to' a woo en under. floor;

Fig. 5 shows the manner 'ofattaching the floor of the present invention when a concrete under floor is employed; and

Fig. 6 is a detailview showm the manner in which the blocks abut at their side edges.

the floor of the present In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the floor blocks or sections 2, one of who .is shown in Fig. 1, are preferably com osed of strips 3 of fibre board which are punchedor died out in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 fro'm a sheet of fibre board, each of these strips-3 being provided with dovetail openings 4 in' its lower edge adapted to receive splines 6, of corresponding shape in cross section, upon which the strips or sections 3 are threaded in the manner shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that the shape of the dovetail openings 4: is such that the sections 3 are interlocked with the splines 6 against all movement relative thereto except movement lengthwise of the splines.

After a sufficient number of strips or sections 3 have been brought into abutting relation to each other upon the splines 6 to form a block-having the desired surface dimensions, the block is preferably subjected to pressure lengthwise of the s lines 6, or transverse to the strip plane to insure close contact of the sections. 3, and while under such pressure a small steel wire 8 is passed fibres of which the fibre board is composedv will be substantially on end in the block,

that is, these fibres will lie in planes which are perpendicular to the faces of the block.

In order further to insure arrangement of a substantial portion of the fibres normal to the wear surface of the block the strips may be cut transversel to the original run of the sheet from Wl'llGh they are formed.

In laying the floor it is important to secure uniform lateral pressure throughout the floor and to this end the tying or otherwise bindin of the assembled blocks under pressure, asiy the wires 8, contributes. One method of laying the floor is illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. In Fig. 3 it will be noted that the blocks are so -laid that the joints are broken and to insure interlocking of the blocks one or more of the splines are preferj flo ,r. is to be laid upon a concrete floor-,-

- if it tends to swell it will com are preferably I in the blocks and ably moved lengthwise in those blocks which abut endwise so that the splines of one block will extend into the sections of the abutting block.

If the floor be laid on a wooden underfloor the sections are nailed at intervals directly to the under-floor, the nailing being done preferably through the splines 6 which of wood, as shown at 10 in Figs. -4 and 5. The nailing ma be done difctly down throu h the top 0 thelliloplk o floor section as s own in Fig. 5.

the

concrete floor is preferably provided with embedded strips 12.0f wood, corresponding imposition to the splines 4 in the blocks,

into which the nails 10 may be driven. I After a section of floor composed of several of the blocks or sections such as is shown in Fig. 1 has been laid, for example a section ten feet square, the wires 8 are cut, thus releasing the stored up pressure ermitting it to distribute itself uniformly through'the abutting ends of the blocks, each of the blocks having been subjected tying with the wires sure throughout the floor, eral pressure normal to the stripplane, thus be substantially uniform. It will be obvious that marked'variations in the pressure in the strip plane due to the floor laying operation will notoccur. To prevent buckling of the floor by swelling, itis important not only that the lateral pressure upon the floor should be substantially uniform, such pressure being obtained in the manner above specified, but also that this pressure be not too heavy. In other words, it is preferable to lay the floor under comparative y light lateral pressure so that 8. The lateral presthat is, the latfurther instead of buckling. T e pressure to which the blocks are subjected before tying with the wires 8 is, therefore, preferably comparatively light, a suitable pressure for a block 16" wide, 24" long, and 1" thick being about 25 lbs. endwisevpressure distributed over the end of the block (not 25 lbs. per square inch).

To insure tight joints at the surface of the floor between the abutting sides of the blocks, that is, between those sides of the blocks at which the ends of the strips which go to make 11- one block engage the ends of the stri s w ich go to make up the other block, w en the blocks are laid as shown in Fig. 3, it is preferablethat the upper edges of each block upon these two sides overhang slightly the lower edges as shown in Fig. 6. To this end, in forming the strips 3 of which the blocks are comosed, each strip is preferably made slightly onger on its upper edge so that the upper corner 13 will overhang the lower corner 14 to the same pressure before will ress itself at each end of the strip, a sufiicient overhang in blocks of the dimensions hereinabove set forth being about 1/32nd of an inch at each' end, the upper edge of the strip being 1/16th of an inch longer than the and the strip being tapered at' lower edge each end from the upper edge to the lower the thickness of the floor, may also vary from those above given. A suitable fibre composition from which floors of the t pe herein described have been made for actory use and which have successfully met the conditions of such use, is one in which about 20% of chrome leather has been combined with mixed papers and treated in a beating engine and formed into a sheet upon a cylinder wet machine after the manner of pa er-making. v

though the floor is herein shown as laid with all of the fibre strips running in the and that i same direction across the floor, it will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the articular arrangement of the blocks in t e floor herein shown and described, although certain advantages herein above pointed out are obtained from the par- 7 ticular manner of laying the floor set forth.

Claims to subject matter which is common to this application and to either or both of my co-pending applications Serial No..

478,623, filed June 18, 1921, and Serial No. 580,654, filed August 9, 1922, will be made in the appropriate one of said co-pending applications it being my intention tomake all generic claims to subject matter common to both of my said co-pending applications and the present application in the applica-.

tion Serial No. 580,654, filed August 9, 1922. I claim 1. A floor formed of blocks, each of which comprises strips of fibrous sheet. material standing in abutting relation edge up and transverse strips inset into the lower edges of said floor forming strips and interlocked therewith said strips of fibrous material having at erwise no interconnection.

2. A floor formed of strips of fibrous material standing in abutting relation edge up and comprising with which said first-mentioned strips are interlocked, said .floor being 7 formed of blocks of the aforesaid construction with thejoints broken and with some of the connecting strips extending into the adjacent transverse connecting strips blocks whereby the blocks are interlocked. 3. A floor formed of strips of fibrous sheet material standing in abutting relation edge up and comprising transverse strips passing through openings in said first mentioned strips and confining said first mentioned strips against movement in the strip plane, said floor being formed of blocks of the aforesaid construction with the joints broken and with some of the connecting strips extending into the strip openings of the adjacent blocks whereby the blocks are interlocked.

4. A floor block comprising strips of sheet material arranged on edge in abutting relation and provided with registering trans verse openings, transverse strips substantially fitting said transverse openings in said first mentioned strips and adapted to confine said first mentioned strips against movement in the strip plane, said transverse strips being slidable in the transverse openings in the block whereby a connecting strip of one block may be moved into a strip opening of an adjacent block when laying a floor and thereby interlock said blocks.

5. A floor formed of strips of fibrous sheet material standing in abutting relation edge up and comprising transverse strips passing through openings in said first mentioned strips and confining said first mentioned strips against movement in the strip plane, said floor being formed of blocks of the aforesaid construction with the joints broken and with some of the connecting strips extending into the strip openings of the adjacent blocks whereby the blocks are interlocked, and means to connect said transverse strips to the under floor or support.

6. The process of laying a floor of the character described under uniform lateral pressure which consists in tying together by bands passed around the sides thereof blocks formed of strips of sheet material standing in abutting re ation edge up and subjected to the desired pressure normal, tothe strip plane, laying these blockstoform a section of floor, fastening said blocks in position and then cutting said bands. I

Signed at JohnsonCity, N. Y., this th day of September, 1920.

AN SEL O. DENNIN G. Witnesses:

STELLA LoEFFLER, ARTHUR G. CmMMINs, 

